My Skin
by flower gettin' lady
Summary: "I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take words... I scatter them in time and space. A message, to lead myself here. I want you safe, my Doctor. Protected from the false God." Bad Wolf decides to meddle in the affairs of the Doctor and his Rose. Rose/11.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Do I wish I did? Yes. Do I? Sadly, no.**

**I also don't own "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant.**

**A/N: This is mostly wishful thinking and boredom. Leave me a review to tell me what you think, or even make suggestions as to what I should do with the plot (because there's not much of it).**

_Take a look at my body_  
_Look at my hands_  
_There's so much here_  
_That I don't understand_

_Your face-saving promises_  
_Whispered like prayers_  
_I don't need them_

_I've been treated so wrong_  
_I've been treated so long_  
_As if I'm becoming untouchable_

_Contempt loves the silence_  
_It thrives in the dark_  
_With fine winding tendrils_  
_That strangle the heart_

_They say that promises_  
_Sweeten the blow_  
_But I don't need them_  
_No, I don't need them_

_I've been treated so wrong_  
_I've been treated so long_  
_As if I'm becoming untouchable_

_I'm a slow dying flower_  
_Frost killing hour_  
_The sweet turning sour_  
_And untouchable_

Rose was very familiar with the beach of Bad Wolf Bay. She knew a nearly invisible path that led up through the cliffs to a magnificent view. She knew where the tide pools were. She knew every inch of the sandy stretch, particularly the spot where the TARDIS had last been. Sometimes she thought she could see a faint imprint in the sand, a square one. She even heard the comforting noise of the TARDIS in her head, softly rasping like it was speaking to her. She knew it was her imagination, but sometimes she liked to think it really _was_ the TARDIS. But no, her Doctor was gone. He was gone and she would never see him again.

Meta-crisis—fondly known as John Noble—had been brilliant. He'd died, at the ripe age of ninety-one. How Rose had loved him… it'd never been the same, she knew, but oh, she loved him dearly. And then he died, and she didn't.

The day on Bad Wolf Bay when the Doctor left her for a second time, John had promised her that he wouldn't do the same, and they'd lived together ever since. The relationship didn't move past hugging, hand-holding, and having adventures together, but Rose was happy. Sometimes, at night, he would come into her room with his head full of fear from nightmares; nightmares of worlds and wars that couldn't hurt him anymore but still scared him. She would sing to him, an old Gallifreyan lullaby that the Doctor sang to her when she'd been frightened by bad dreams.

They found out on their first Christmas together. Rose and John had been relaxing, watching the snow fall, when she'd been struck by paralyzing pain that had left her in a coma for a week. The doctors said that there was something wrong with her head. It wasn't a tumor, or decay, or anything they had ever seen. She went to Torchwood when she heard that and had them check. It took weeks, but they finally determined that it was a tiny bit of space and time lodged in her head, one that had been dormant until that moment. It was the Bad Wolf.

Rose's dreams were plagued by the creature, a shimmery-gold she-wolf with her brown eyes. It bothered her to no end that she couldn't decipher what it meant, but the Wolf seemed harmless. She didn't have any other headaches. She felt perfectly fine.

One day she was out hunting a Hoix (nasty creatures, very prone to violence) when she was badly wounded. It had looked like the end for her—she'd been lying in a massive pool of blood and her vision had started to go after only thirty seconds. She tried to cling to life for the sake of John, but she just couldn't. there was too much missing in her life, too many sounds and sights she thought were there, that should be there. She'd been about to let the darkness take hold when a golden light had surrounded her, and the Wolf howled in her mind.

It happened again and again. At first she thought it was a mere coincidence the first time, or a once-in-a-lifetime miracle. Then it happened while battling a band of evil pixies, fighting off a small group of cybermen, and defending Torchwood from Weevils. No matter what happened she didn't die, because Bad Wolf wouldn't let her. She didn't even change appearance.

Years slipped away, John aged, and he died. Her mum and dad passed before him, both old and happy. As for Tony, he was reaching his late thirties. He had a wife and two kids, one of them already college-bound.

As she sat on the cliff, watching over the beach, Rose knew what it felt like to be the Doctor. She'd known that she might have to watch her parents die, but John? No, it was inconceivable. He'd been so… so peaceful. He regretted that Rose would have to live on while he passed on, but he had been happy that she'd been there his whole life. It comforted Rose to know he'd died happily and quietly. It was something she feared her Doctor would never have.

Still, it was awful to feel so alone. Rose wasn't close with Tony's kids, mostly because she threw her time entirely into work once John had died. She knew that in theory she could bond with them, then befriend their kids, and their kid's kids, so she'd never have to be alone. The only problem was that she'd have to watch them grow up, thrive, and then die. The death was what disheartened her so much. She loved Tony, and he was growing old. Her little bug-eyed, cow-licked baby brother was turning into an old man and she knew she would have to watch him die. The worst part was that she couldn't even kill herself, the way she knew the Doctor could, during regeneration. No matter how badly she wanted it she would never be able to finally die.

The rocks underneath her legs dug in uncomfortably. "Look," she said softly, to no one in particular, "Everyone I love is gone or nearly gone. Please, I know that you want me alive, but…"

She'd come to this place, this wonderful place, to plead with the Wolf. She hoped that maybe the familiarity, the closeness to where the TARDIS had been might convince the Wolf.

"… I've lived too long. I haven't even lived as long as him and already it's been far too much. Please, just… can I die?"

It was odd, having spent her whole life surviving just to ask for death. The very idea of her life ending seemed ridiculous, since it'd never happened before. Rose could only hope that what the Wolf gave, the Wolf could take away.

There was a sudden rumble, and a piercing howl. Rose saw images flitting past her eyes; the Wolf pranced through her mind, touching things here and there with her nose. Memories burned brightly in her mind, fresh as the day they were made. The fire that licked through her mind became so very, very real, and she screamed.

Real and fake and present and past all melded into one single, eternal pain as Rose curled into a ball and cried for it to end.

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

"Oi! Stop touching that!"

Amy pouted as the Doctor slapped her hand away from a lever on the control panel. "You said I could fly it."

"No, that wasn't what I said, I said that you could _watch_ me fly it and then maybe—just maybe—help. Helping means you only ouch what I tell you to and NOT anything else because we could crash." He exclaimed irritably, fanning smoke away as she dashed around to the other side of the control panel and twisted a knob. "And I did _not_ tell you to touch anything yet!"

"Oh, you're in a mood today." Amy observed, leaning against the railing.

"I am _not_ in a mood!"

Lately it had been like this wherever they went. Today they had stopped on four planets, the Doctor declaring that each one was Woman Wept as they stepped out, then realizing that it was anything but. What was odd was that he would walk back into the TARDIS and try again rather than exploring like he normally did. It was like he actually wanted to avoid trouble.

Amy sidled up to him as the TARDIS groaned to a halt. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Something is wrong and you won't tell me what."

"That's just it." He said, facing her. "Something is wrong, very, very wrong. I don't know what it is, just that I really don't like it and don't particularly want to discover it. I just… I just know that whatever it is, I'm really not going to like it."

Something in his tone warned Amy not to question him further. She nodded. "Okay. How about we go see where we've landed this time, yeah?"

He smiled, inclining his head slightly. "Thank you." he whispered.

"Yeah, anytime." She said. Raising her voice, she added, "Rory! We're leaving!"

"For real this time?"

"Yeah, hurry up!"

The planet they were on was uninhabited, as far as Amy could tell. They were on a huge stretch of beach that reached as far as she could see, flawlessly sparkling. It took her a minute to realize it was because there wasn't any trash on the ground, and no building nearby. The place was gorgeous. It looked like it'd been untouched for years.

"Oh, hello!" said the Doctor. "We made it! Amy, Rory, this is Woman Wept! Home to perfect beaches and some of the tallest waves you've ever seen. On a different part of the planet—the north—it's cold enough that they freeze, and you can walk right up to the top of each one! Imagine that! Fifty to one hundred feet, standing on a _wave_!"

Amy giggled at the Doctor's enthusiasm. "You don't say?"

"How do you climb a wave?" asked Rory. "Wouldn't they be too steep?"

Amy and the Doctor rolled their eyes at him, as if to say, "_Honestly_, Rory." before proceeding to run down the length of the beach, laughing. Rory took only a second before he was after them.

Whatever had been troubling the Doctor was seemingly gone. As they breathlessly fell to the ground, Rory joining Amy while the Doctor rolled a few feet away, Amy saw nothing but pleasure in his eyes. It was the happy, slightly maniacal, "I'm-really-five-years-old-at-heart" energy that he radiated when he was truly enjoying himself.

"This is nice, this is definitely nice." Rory said. He planted a quick kiss on Amy's cheek. Nevermind the waves, we'll stay right here. You can venture through the icy wave wilderness while we stay here."

Before the Doctor could reciprocate a shrill, pained scream echoed through the woods. It was so… inhuman. Amy could have sworn it sounded more like a wolf's howl than a person. "What was that?"

"Trouble." It was obvious that it was the very trouble the Doctor had been avoiding. "It's trouble that I'm certain we don't want to find."

"You, not wanting trouble? Rubbish." Rory said. "That sounded like a girl screaming. Shouldn't we try to save her?"

As much as he wanted to turn tail and run—a feeling he did not like in the least—the Doctor gave them a curt nod. "Yes, fine, but then we're on our way, understand? No getting involved. Just save her and leave."

The three clambered to their feet, brushing the sand off. "It came from that way." Amy pointed to the edge of the forest that apparently went on for miles along the beach. "Look… I can see something, right there. I think it's her."

They wasted no time in getting there, and as they neared the figure Amy saw it was a girl in her early twenties, with dyed blond hair. The way she was screaming—it was unearthly, and one of the few things that frightened Amy. What was worse was the expression on the Doctor's face.

"No, no, no no no no no." he mumbled, dropping to his knees next to her. "Oh, no, this was never supposed to happen, you can't just jump from one world to another as you please. Rose, oh Rose, how…" the words jumbled until it was nonsense that he was saying, trying to calm the girl's flailing arms so he could see what was hurting her. He scanned her with his sonic for a minute. Oddly enough, the sound seemed to calm her.

He sighed. "Rose… how did you do it?"

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

She couldn't se, couldn't move, couldn't breathe. She was probably still on the cliff, or maybe she'd fallen. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered because a searing pain was burning its way through her head and it wouldn't stop. It would never stop because the Wolf didn't have a way to kill her. She would be trapped and it was so much worse than what she'd had before.

She kept thinking there was talking near her. She couldn't hear it very well because someone was screaming (she suspected it was herself). The words didn't make sense but the voice was soothing her, and the pain in her skull lessened a fraction. She could even make out a buzzing, or a humming; it was definitely something sonic. Funny, in such a fiery world there was something sonic.

Suddenly she could feel her limbs again, but the feeling of acid washing through her mind was very much present. Now that her surroundings felt real the pain somehow became more real. It was like she'd been numb, dreaming, until the voice and the buzzing. A strangled cry escaped her lips, followed by many more.

As the blazes tore through her memories one particular face surfaced. It was of her new new Doctor, smiling at her in the way that made her know she meant the world to him. She wished more than anything that he could be there. "Doctor…" she whimpered, fists clenching sporadically at her side. "Doctor, please… please… it hurts."

Was that an answer? She could have sworn she heard an answer, but the words echoed in her skull and pounded against her temples like someone was repeatedly kicking her in the head but she wouldn't pass out. Her back arched and she thrashed, trying to get the noise away from her. There was shouting, too much shouting.

"Doctor!" she screamed. "I need you, please! Make it stop, make it stop!"

Rose knew she couldn't take it another second. She was ready to die and willing to do it at any price. Just as she was about to give up, the pain subsided.

Once she could think clearly, Rose realized that her eyes were shut tightly. It was like the attack at Christmas, only this had been far, far worse. During Christmas she'd passed out after only a minute, giving in to the numb darkness. It was better now, at least. Her head still pounded, but it was more like a hangover now rather than having her entire head explode over and over again.

There was that voice again, except now she could hear what it—no, he—was saying. "Amy, Rory, be very quiet." The man said. "Whatever's wrong seems to be sensitive to noises."

"Like a really bad hangover?" asked a Scottish woman. Rose almost smiled at the comment, it was exactly what she'd been thinking.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you could say that," said the man. His manner was abrupt and blustering. "Except it's much, much worse. It might be driving her mad."

There were a few soft, crunchy footsteps. Was she still on the beach? "She's not screaming any more." The woman said. "That's good, yeah?"

"Yes—well, no—well, yes—see, it's hard to tell. She could be comatose, or in so much pain that she's lost the ability to make a single sound." It was odd how upset the man sounded. In fact, his voice had familiarity to it. Rose wished that it was someone she knew.

"John…?" she said. Her voice was harsh and cracked from screaming. "Dad?" she knew it could be either one of them, but she knew the owner of the voice. "…Tony?"

"You reckon that's her family?" a different man asked.

"Yes, it is." The first man said. "Rose, can you open your eyes?"

She found that she could. They fluttered slightly, until she was blinking up at the face of a stranger. His floppy brown hair hung into his eyes, and he had a ridiculous red bow-tie on. The way his face lit up when he saw her eyes make her smile, despite the fact that she'd nearly died.

"Oh, good, you're awake, and you're okay!" his grin was just like a five-year-old's. Rose tilted her head to see two other people, a woman with vibrant red hair and a gangly man next to her with similarly-colored locks. They both were pleased to see how the first man was reacting.

"Ummm…" Rose propped herself up on her elbows. "Where am I? Is this…" she trailed off, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Oh, what's the name?"

"Where were you last time you were conscious?" asked the redheaded woman.

Rose moaned softly. "Um, sorry, I couldn't remember it for a minute. I think… I think I was in Dålig Ulv Stranden but I don't know how long ago. Is this it?"

"Did you say Dalek?" the woman asked. Her eyes held a panicky expression. She looked to the floppy-haired man. "Is this what you meant when you said you felt trouble coming?"

He shook his head. "No. Rose, you're not in Bad Wolf Bay anymore, you're on Woman Wept again."

"Again?" asked the second man and the woman.

"Again?" Rose yelped, sitting up and jerking away from the floppy-haired man. "How do you know that—?"

"Doctor, how do you know her?" the woman said, glaring furiously at him. "Is this like River Song again? 'Cause if it is I will _kill_ you, and so will she!"

Rose had paled considerably. "D-Doctor?"

He nodded. "Rose, I know I look different, but it's me. Arms, legs, hair, everything. Even—" he smiled widely, "—teeth. Brand-new teeth."

Rose wasted no time in flinging her arms around him, a desperate sob escaping her lips. She waited so long for something like this to happen without ever thinking it would, and now it had! She buried her head in the crook of his neck. He smelled like he had before, but just a little bit different. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and one hand moved up to cradle the back of her head, twining through her hair.

When he turned to address his friends Rose still clung to him, head resting against his chest. "Amy, Rory, this is Rose." He said softly; reverently, almost.

"Ah." Amy said. "You two are quite cozy."

Realizing what she was doing, Rose reluctantly let go and brushed some sand off her shirt. "Hello."

"Hello." Said Rory. "How do you two know each other?"

Rose glanced at the Doctor and decided it would be better if she answered. "Well, I sued to travel with him when he looked different. I saw him regenerate, once." She watched the man his was with sad eyes. "You changed on me again."

"But I'm not a girl." The Doctor pointed out. "That's good, isn't it?"

"It's brilliant." Rose said. She laughed at his silly expression. "You look more like a kid now."

"I do not!"

"Regenerate?" asked Rory.

The Doctor managed to tear his gaze away from Rose. "Oh, yes, right. It's a very complicated things Timelords do to escape death. Basically, I change so that I look different and don't die."

"And how many times has that happened since I left?" Rose wasn't sure why she wanted to know. It might have been because she wanted to know how many people he'd been with and had the chance to love, or maybe it was because she wondered how long it had been for him, in this world.

"Once." He said. "I was… I didn't want to go. I was inured by radiation. I did it to save Donna's grandfather."

"Oh, Docor-Donna1" said Rose. "How is she? Where is she?"

"Her mind couldn't take the knowledge of a Timelord, so I had to erase all her memories of me. But nevermind that. I regenerated, right after I saw you."

"You what?"

He sighed. "January the first, 2005."

"Oh, mum came home so drunk the next day. There was a man, too, he'd had so much that day and he couldn't even remember the year… oh."

"After I saw you I finally let it happen, as much I didn't want to. Then I accidentally crashed the TARDIS into little Amelia Pond's backyard."

"Oh, and she travels with you now." Rose concluded. She smiled at Amy. "So how many time shave you been kidnapped, poisoned, and nearly died?"

Amy shrugged. "Who knows? Rory's died twice already, but I'm happy to say I haven't' had that happen to me yet."

"Oi!"

Amy kissed his cheek. "I'm glad that your stupid face is still with me."

Rose was finding it hard to absorb all the information at once. She was also dreading the questions that the Doctor would ask her, because she'd have to tell him about John and her family.

Oddly enough, he decided to hoist her to her feet instead. "We should go back to the TARDIS, so I can see what's wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong with me." Rose snapped.

Rory said, "You were lying on the ground screaming like you were being tortured."

"Yeah. So?"

"Do you have any medical conditions?" he asked. She wondered if he was a real doctor.

She shook her head, swaying a little. She stuck out her tongue at the Doctor's "told-you-so" smirk. "No, nothing that I can think of. Just that big Bad Wolf running around in my head."

"The what?" the Doctor's face had gone from happy to dead serious in less than a second. "Bad Wolf is gone. I got rid of it, I absorbed the time vortex from you so that you wouldn't—"

"—die, I know. It didn't work. I was just sitting in Bad Wolf Bay, asking her if I could just please die already, when my mind lit on fire. I think maybe she got upset with me. Or maybe she brought me here."

He stopped her, face hovering inches from hers. "You asked her if you could die?"

"Yeah." She steeled herself for the inevitable.

"Why, why would you do that?"

"Because John died along with my mum and dad, so many years ago. Tony's nearly forty. Doctor, everyone I loved died. The Wolf wouldn't let me, and I was just trying to convince her that I had to."

He didn't speak to her after that. He just put his arms around her and led her to the TARDIS while Amy and Rory followed in a confused silence.

Once they were inside Rose stood there, gaping. "This isn't… I don't remember it being like this."

"What you've never been inside the TARDIS?" Amy asked incredulously. "Surprising, considering he loves showing it off. 'It's bigger on the inside' he says. 'It travels through space and time' he says."

"It is, and it does!" he whined like he was two.

"You changed it." Rose murmured. She patted the wall gently. "But she's still beautiful." The TARDIS hummed softly in response.

"Never mind that, you two can gossip later." He told her. "I have to take you to the med bay, now, and hope that Bad Wolf hasn't destroyed your mind as badly as I think she has."

**A/N: Should I continue? I really have no more than a vague idea of what could happen, and then lots of Doctor/Rose fluffiness. Also, this was not spellchecked. If anyone wants to beta it I'd love that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So I guess a bunch of people liked this 'cause I only posted it a few days ago and already I've gotten like seven reviews :) thank you guys SOOO much, by the way! Usually my fics get about one or two per chapter, so it means a lot to me **

**Which reminds me, there are review replies at the end of the chapter.**

Rose sat patiently, waiting as her dear, beloved Doctor ran about the med bay with the energy and vigor of a small child. It made her wonder if this version of him had a coffee addiction, and if yes, how much he'd had that day.

"Now, if I just switch this on—yes! And wire it here…" he dashed past, a collection of wires and his sonic screwdriver in hand. "It'll be like what you call a CAT scan, only far more advanced."

"Ah, lovely." Rose said.

"That way I can see whatever is in your brain, but without disturbing it."

"Disturbing it?"

He waved his sonic screwdriver in the air—it was new, she noticed, green instead of blue. It made her sad. "This, it might upset the Wolf—Bad Wolf—and she, or it, or he might react like it did earlier."

"She." Rose corrected him. "And why would she hurt me? She's kept me from dyin' so many times, what would make her kill me?"

"You travelled through dimensions." He said, voice suddenly deadly serious. "You know what that means."

She did. It meant that the walls between them were crumbling once again, and that something was about to end the universe. She could practically feel her heart sinking in her chest, because she was so sure that as soon as whatever-it-was had been defeated, the Doctor would leave her back in the other world. He would say that it was for her own good, and that she needed to stay with Tony.

"It doesn't have to be bad, does it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It was bad last time, and the time before. No one's meant to travel between the two. You must have torn a hole in the fabric of space and time somewhere, and it's going to come back and get us somehow."

"Yeah, I s'pose." She said.

Suddenly his head jerked up, and everything in his arms clattered to the floor. "Every dimension could be crumbling, falling, all of them right in this moment."

"Yeah? Because last time I checked it was fine."

He ignored her, mumbling under his breath as he raced out of the med bay. Sighing, Rose swung her legs over the edge of the bed she'd been on and followed.

"What's wrong? It's like he's gone mad!" Amy exclaimed once Rose reached the main room of the TARDIS.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know, he just ran out after saying something about the dimensions collapsing."

The Doctor was working furiously at the screen hanging above the TARDIS console. Rose noticed that a lot of things had moved and changed since she'd been there. She did love it, as she had told the Doctor before, but it felt… alien. Really, truly alien.

"Nothing!" the Doctor shouted very loudly. Amy glared at him. "Well, look at this screen! There's nothing, not a gap or bridge or anything! The dimensions haven't been opened or moved through since the day I dropped Rose, Jackie, and Handy on Bad Wolf Bay!"

"Handy?" Rose asked, eyebrows lifting.

He grinned, waving his right at her. "Meta-Crisis. He was made from my hand, remember? Sycorax?"

"I always remember." Rose said, half-teasing and half-serious. She could never forget that day, because it'd been when she fell in love with her Doctor all over again. He'd had different eyes and hair and even new teeth. She had missed those icy blue eyes of his, and his silly ears. But then, as she looked closer, she started to see; his beautiful orbs matched hers, and he seemed so much happier and more merciful. It was like he'd been made just for her, and she loved him for it.

He walked closer, peering into her eyes as though she held the answer. "It must be you." he said. "It has to be you, because you have that tiny bit of the TARDIS in you, and you somehow brought yourself here."

"I wasn't going anywhere, I was dying." said Rose.

He was pacing frantically, clutching at his hair. "No, no, no, but you were! Or maybe there's something here the Wolf wants. It could be anything, anything… what were you thinking about, before you were here? Tell me everything that happened, every detail!"

Rose's face fell. She leaned against a railing, hands tightening around the metal support. "I was thinking about John."

"Meta-Crisis, yes. Was it something you two had killed together, some monster? The Wolf could have sensed the monsters in this world and brought you back, or maybe they're a bigger threat than we thought, or—"

"I was thinking about when he had bad dreams." Rose interrupted softly. She had his full attention then. "He used to get these terrible, terrible dreams about the Time War, and about losing me. He could remember how you felt when you lost me. When he would cry out at night I'd go in and sing to him. You remember?"

Amy and Rory were watching the two, completely baffled. "How can he remember? Are their minds connected?" Rory asked.

"I remember." The Doctor replied. He walked closer to her, a hand coming to rest at her cheek, cupping it.

"Doctor?"

Rose glanced at them. "It's nothing, their minds aren't connected or anything."

"What happened next?" the Doctor asked her. He didn't move and inch, just stood there, gently caressing her face.

She said, "I just thought about him, and how he, mum, and dad were all gone. I thought that it must be lonely for you, if that was what it felt like. So, so lonely. That was when I asked Bad Wolf if she would let me die. I could feel her, wandering around in my mind. She lit everything on fire, all my memories of you."

The Doctor didn't speak for a long time. He wrapped both arms around Rose's waist, pulling her close and forcing her to let go of the railing. She sighed softly into his shirt, pleased when she heard a quiet little noise of contentment by her ear. She didn't mind that Amy and Rory were still there, staring at the two of them like they were mad. She didn't even care that the universe could start to collapse—though it sounded like that wasn't going to happen. She felt perfectly safe where she was.

"I love you." she mumbled into his jacket, breathing in the scent that was his and his alone. She had hugged John so, so many times and he never smelled quite the same. There was something heady, something inhuman about the Doctor.

She could feel his breath tickle her ear as he spoke. "Rose Tyler," he began, and her heart thumped wildly in her chest, "I love you too."

It was a miracle to hear those words. She thought maybe he had moved on, with his new face and new personality. He even had two new companions who he obviously cared about, otherwise he would have never let them join him. But even now he loved her. It was suddenly too much for her to handle, and she burst into tears.

"Oh—I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, was I not supposed to say that?" he asked, flustered. "I didn't mean to make you think of that day, if that's what's wrong—or are you married?" he stepped back, staring at her with eyes full of concern. "I won't get in the way of anything, I just thought you should know. Please, I didn't mean to upset you! I really didn't…"

Rose smiled through her tears, shaking her head. "I… I-I loved hearing you say it… I love you, I love you!"

As Rose cried in her Doctor's arms Rory and Amy snuck out as discretely as possible. They'd noticed tears streaming silently down his face and had figured the two needed some alone time.

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

Hours later Amy wandered back into the main room, since she'd heard the tell-tale sounds of tinkering coming from down the hallway. "Where is she, Doctor?"

There was a moment of silence. "Sleeping."

"Is she going to be all right?"

"Yeah, yeah... she's fine. I scanned her head and she's going to be fine." Even as he spoke the concern in his voice was painfully obvious.

Amy walked down the steps to underneath the console, where he was attaching wires and replacing some with new ones. "What was it, then? What made her come here?"

"Bad Wolf." He told her. "It's—it's all very timey-wimey. Basically she looked into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex. I, um, I absorbed it from her so it wouldn't kill her, but a tiny bit of the Wolf managed to stay in her head, waiting for all those years… all those years and I never even noticed…"

"It's not your fault." She said.

"No, it is." He said. "It's dormant now, but it's there. It could flare up at any moment and decide to kill her, or plague her for days with unimaginable pain. Can you imagine that? Your skull splitting open again and again and again while you beg and plead for it to stop but it doesn't because it wants to hurt you and you can't even pass out? Enough of that and she'll go mad."

Amy settled down near him, tucking her skirt beneath her legs. From what she'd seen Rose meant the world to the Doctor, and he had a look on his face that said he would do absolutely anything for, even if he had to die to save her life. "Do you love her?" Amy asked.

"Yes."

It was odd, hearing him confess his love for her—or for anyone, in that case.

"Why did you marry River?"

He sighed ruefully. "Because she loved me, and I needed her to trust me so she could kill me. Besides, she isn't so bad to have around."

"Do you love her back?" Amy knew the answer to that, but waited for him to say it.

"I love her, but not in the way you think."

Amy leaned her head against one of the coral-colored supports, rubbing her eyes wearily. "She's not going to be too happy when she meets Rose."

"Then again, we may not encounter River for the rest of my life." He pointed out. "How many other meetings can we have?"

"She said that at one point you met her and knew everything about her, but she knew nothing about you. Has that happened yet?"

The Doctor glared at her, but admitted in a small voice, "No."

"Well, then you should be ready to tell her about Rose, 'cause I'm betting she'll be furious—"

Amy's words were cut of by a shrill scream, one that echoed down from the TARDS's hallyway. Amy knew that it was the hallway that led to the bedrooms, and that it wasn't Rory who was screaming.

The Doctor was up in less than a second, pelting down the corridor. How could he have been so stupid? It was probably the Wolf, tormenting her, because he had thought she was safe at the moment.

He was at Rose's room in seconds, flipping the light switch on the wall and glancing about for any monsters. Then his eyes landed on her.

Rose's face was shiny with sweat, limbs tangled and flailing against the constraints of her sheets. It was worse than any of the nightmares she'd ever had before, so bad that he doubted it was a nightmare.

"Rose! Rose, can you hear me?" he demanded, going to her side and holding her arms down. "Rose, it's all right, you're safe. Rose, it's me."

She moaned, body twisting in attempts to get away. He quickly released her arms, not wanting to frighten her further. "Rose? ROSE!?"

She jerked upright like she'd been electrocuted, screaming at an ear-splitting volume. "No, don't! Please, let me have him back—" she stopped, blinking in the bright light. "Doctor?"

"I'm here, I'm right here." He assured her, grasping her hand to prove his point.

She gulped, wiping tearstains from her cheeks. "Yeah, you are." A nervous giggle escaped her lips.

"Rose, what happened? Was it the Wolf?"

She nodded. "I dreamed that we were at Bad Wolf Bay, and you… you…" she could barely force the words from her throat. "You left me again. Then the Wolf came, and she was laughing. She jumped on me… her paws were like fire, but they burned my heart and my mind."

"Rose…" the Doctor breathed. There were no words.

She shook her head mutely, crawling onto his lap and sobbing openly for the second time that day. She had been strong for such a long time, but it was getting harder every day. As for the Doctor, he rocked her back and forth gently, humming the melody of the Gallifreyan lullaby he used to sing to her, that she sang to John.

Amy had hovered in the doorway while Rose explained her dream, but left once she began to cry. However, as she passed later that night, she saw the Doctor curled up on Rose's bed, holding Rose in his arms like she was the most precious thing on earth. She smiled softly and closed the door, whispering, "Goodnight."

**I hope that was enough fluff. Review, please? **

**Review replies: **

**MaryMatthesen: Aww, thank you!**

**WitchWithWords: Thank you so much! Yeah, I'm pretty detail-oriented. I can't write fic exploring alternate scenarios unless I can make it make sense. **

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**I'd love for you to beta :) PM me?**

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**oldgod101: thank you :) I appreciate your enthusiasm!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So I'm really enjoying writing this, as I've been suffering an awful writer's block and this is pretty much all I can manage at the moment. Review replies at the ends, because I LOVE every single one of you for leaving your opinions! Even a simple "I loved it!" or "Great chapter!" makes my day :)**

**Oh, so someone asked me where this was in the DW timeline. I've decided that it's after the events of the latest Christmas special, so it's pre-series 7. I might even take some inspiration from series 7 aka write Rose into it. By the way, if I misspell any planets or describe them wrong, please tell me. I think I mentioned a few old DW ones and I'm not quite sure I got their names right.**

**Also, quick question: Who exactly is Jimmy Stone? All I know is that he was Rose's boyfriend, and the reason she didn't sit her A-levels. That's literally I'll I've been able to find out about him, and I get so confused because apparently the entire fanfiction-writing world is convinced her raped her or something. Yeah, I dunno… I was wondering if that was actually true or if it's made up. I'm hoping it's made up.**

**So, yay! Time for more fun randomness that has yet to develop actual plot. Review replies at the end of the chapter.**

"_John? John, are you still in here?" Rose called, dropping her jacket aimlessly on the floor as she made her way through the mess in the living room. It had been a hard day at work, hunting Weevils that had managed to sneak in, and she was already exhausted just looking at the bits of what seemed to be a bicycle strewn across the metal grating._

_When Rose had first come to the parallel world, before she started on the dimension canon, she'd been homesick for the TARDIS. Pete got her a little place of her own, and it _was_ nice, but it just wasn't the same. Even joining Torchwood and becoming the defender of Earth didn't seem familiar enough. _

_It started with her room. She found one the precise shape of her old one on the TARDIS, so she painted the walls the same coral color and found a carpet that nearly matched the old one. Soon enough she had an exact replica, except for the little trinkets she'd picked up on other planets. Sadly, those had been lost when she lost the Doctor._

_As she continued to work at Torchwood and came up with the idea of a dimension canon, she kept on changing her house bit by bit. Over the course of four years she'd painted every wall the light orange-coral color, placed twisting supports at random like the ones in the TARDUS control room, and even set up an audio system that made noises similar to the TARDIS. Her mum always shook her head at what she called "nonsense" but it helped keep Rose sane, and it made her feel like she was home again._

_Now that she had John, it was such a comfort. She could wander the partially carpet, partially grating hallways and actually find her Doctor there. He loved it as well, since it reminded him of his TARDIS. She even set up a room for him, and helped him furnish it to look like his._

"_In here!" She heard him shout. She wandered the seemingly endless hallways (she'd had some work done on the house to purposely make them confusing, with some that led to nowhere and were dead ends.) until she reached her room._

_He was seated outside her door, leaning against a coral support that twisted upwards into the ceiling. She saw a trail of metal bits, nails, and pieces of electrical wire leading into her bedroom. John was tinkering with what he had in his hands, constructing some sort of device._

"_Look, I'm fixing the audio system!" He told her happily, pointing into her room. Sure enough, the little speaker on the ceiling in the corner was pried open, and wires hung from it._

_She sighed, shaking her head with amusement. "And you needed to wreck a bicycle for it?"_

"_No, no, that was for something completely different." He mumbled, dumping a bunch of unidentifiable objects into her hands. Before she could speak he was back in her room, reattaching wires. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd try to make something for Torchwood. You know, what you'd call a stun gun. I hate that they have real guns."_

_Rose carefully let her armful of gadgets slip onto the bed, and she pulled him down from his precarious balancing act on a ladder. "Aren't you tired?"_

"_No!" He pouted. _

_As he turned back to his work she coyly slid her arms around his waist, head resting on his shoulder. She had to stand on her toes and even then she could barely reach it. "John, you work so hard all day, and then you're constantly working on things for Torchwood at night. You do remember that you're part human, right?"_

"_I'm not tired." He repeated stubbornly. He'd been like this for weeks. She knew that he had all the memories of her Doctor, so she knew it would infuriate him to have the same intelligence without the same drive to get things done. As a Timelord he'd only needed about eight hours of sleep a week and now he was dealing with a lot more than that. _

"_John…"_

_He dropped everything in defeat, turning around and gathering her in his arms. "I don't like being tired." He whispered into her ear."I have so many ideas, but my body is too tired to keep up."_

"_I know, love, I know." Rose said, stroking his hair soothingly. _

"_And sleeping is so boring!" He added in a whine._

_She couldn't help but giggle as she looked at him. He was a like a five-year-old being told to take a nap. "It doesn't have to be." When he continued to frown, she tugged his arms and lead him towards her bed. "C'mon, you haven't slept since Tuesday."_

_She managed to wrangle him into bed, and curled up in his arms. He hadn't been hesitant at the idea, and just a few minutes later dropped off into a peaceful sleep._

_After that he always slept in her room._

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

"Is it morning?"

The Doctor's head shot up at the question, zeroing in on Rose. "What?"

The girl in question was perched on the seat by the control panel, sipping from a styrofoam container of tea. "Is there ever really morning here? We're in the time vortex, yeah? Does that mean it's always just one particular time, or is it every time ever all at once?"

"A little of both." He said. "Why?"

"Well, it always feels like night when I go to bed." Rose told him. "The hallway lights even get dimmer. I figured maybe the TARDIS could sense it was night but I didn't even know if there was night where we are."

"She does that because she likes you—well, also because I have her do that for Amy and Rory, but she started it when you came aboard because she wanted you to sleep better." He patted the console lovingly.

"She kept my bedroom exactly the same, too." Rose added softly. It almost hurt to be in there now, because it reminded her of all the times with John. Oh, how she missed him. Still, sitting and watching her Doctor work; that wasn't half bad. That, and he'd stayed with her the whole night after her nightmare. It had been like old times again, and she loved it.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, breaking her thoughts. "Did you know he somehow made her human?" Amy asked.

"He what?" Rose asked, grinning. "You turned the TARDIS human?"

"It was either him or someone on that planet." Amy said. "She said her name was Sexy."

Rose laughed, and stuck her tongue out at the Doctor when he protested. "I'll bet she did. You know, he likes to stroke bits of her sometimes, I used to catch him at it a lot."

"You make it sound so much worse than it is!" he yelped in consternation. "Amy, tell her!"

"She's right, you know."

He growled in frustration, mumbling something about "ridiculous females" as he went back to pressing buttons and pulling levers on the TARDIS console. Amy and Rose both giggled.

"So… you two used to be together, yeah?" Amy asked.

Rose eyebrow's went up. "Well…"

"I don't know if you could say that…" the Doctor said. "We were both in the TARDIS, and we saw all sorts of monsters…."

"You know what I mean." She chided. "You obviously care about each other." She'd been watching them all morning, and she saw the way Rose's eyes barely left the Doctor, and how his entire body would turn in her direction whenever she spoke, completely focused on her. Amy had never seen her raggedy Doctor look at someone like that, not even her or Rory.

Rose was the first to speak up. "I love him."

"I love her." The Doctor said. "It's just…"

"You never said it to each other until yesterday? Typical." muttered Amy. "Have you ever even kissed?"

Both Rose and the Doctor flushed. "Um… Well, not really—that is to say, not really with each so much as—there was that time on the gamestation—"

"There was what?" Rose demanded suddenly.

He reddened and ducked behind the console. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, that time on the gamestation?"

"Er… ask Bad Wolf."

Amy watched the exchange with amusement. "So is that a yes?"

Rose's brow was crinkled with concentration. _What does he mean?_ She asked the Wolf, praying that no harm would come to her. _And if you want to show me anything could it please be migraine-free?_

An image flashed across her mind—the Daleks, dissolving into light and powder. _Dust._ Her first Doctor, staring at her with a mixture of horror, shock, and above all, love. She could barely make out her own words, but her head throbbed just from the memory. Her vision was obscured by golden light.

That was when her Doctor stood, walked up to her, and said something she couldn't hear before planting a kiss on her lips.

Rose snapped out of her trance. "Oi!"

He looked sheepish, shrugging and holding his hands in front of his face. "Now, now, Rose… I was just trying to save you. There was no other way I could safely remove the time vortex from you."

He received a slap on the arm. "No, you git, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I should you would do that! Ow!"

Rose refused to give into his pouting, shooting him a venomous glare. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

The Doctor suddenly found himself in the scrutiny of both women in the room. He squirmed uncomfortably. "You do remember Cassandra?"

"Yeah. Anything else?"

"Nope."

Amy looked between the two. "Cassandra?"

"I was possessed, basically." Rose told her. "And Cassandra got a little excited."

"So…" Amy said, "You two have never had a proper kiss?"

Both of them ducked their heads, the Doctor blushing almost as furiously as Rose. He, however, was better at hiding it.

Amy whistled. "And I thought my relationship was strange."

"So where are we going?" Rose asked, desperate to break the tense silence. The very memory of New Earth—and not that one from the gamestation—was enough to make her turn an unattractive red.

He seemed equally relieved at the change of conversation. "I was thinking a nice visit to Brus, or maybe Asgard. You know, in Brus the mountains are yellow, and there's this white mist everywhere! Or, we could go picnicking on Utopia. I've been there before, it's really lovely; very much like Earth, except everything there is brighter and has more color."

"Utopia?" Rose questioned dubiously. "As in, perfect society?"

He laughed off the notion. "Oh, far from it. They only named it that because of the beauty. In fact, the government's… well, it's…" he frowned, apparently unable to find a word for it. "It's rubbish. Nevermind that, it's still gorgeous!"

With a few quick flips of switches and levers, they had landed. Rose sighed, rubbing the spot where her leg had banged the railing. Clearly his landings were still a little iffy.

He had been right about Utopia—or, as he corrected himself, Utopia 7.2, since there had been other "paradise" planets found and given the same name. Everything was so beautifully bright and alive. Rose looked down to see that her normally pale skin was suddenly alight with pinks and beiges, her dark blue jacket now a deep, ocean-depths color. The bits of hair that fell in her face where shimmering gold.

She found that the Doctor, Rory, and Amy had undergone similar changes. Her Doctor's new green eyes sparkled brilliantly, brighter than any emeralds. Amy and Rory's hair had transformed wildly, so blinding red that Rose found herself blinking when she tried to look at them.

"It's minerals and chemicals, combined in the air." The Doctor explained. "The plants here, when mixed with certain chemicals produced by machinery, let off a substance that makes your vision centers perceive everything more vividly than you would at home or on any other planet."

Amy was gaping at the sights around her. "It's… wow. I think I could spend my entire life just looking at everything."

Rose nodded silently in agreement. She caught the Doctor staring at her, and she slipped her hand into his. "What?"

"My beautiful pink-and-yellow-human." He mused half to himself, kissing her head.

Amy smiled knowingly at the exchange. "So, Doctor, where are we off to?"

"A picnic, like I said." He held up a basket to prove his point.

"It's awfully small…" Rory observed, earning a light slap from Amy. "What?"

"Bigger on the inside." The Doctor explained.

They soon found a nice place underneath the trees, by a lovely path that led through the woods. Rose found herself entranced by the way the new Doctor spoke. He tended to ramble, but to her it was endearing. It was also very obvious how much he loved Amy and Rory. AT first she'd thought she would be jealous of anyone who had gotten to travel with her Doctor while she was away, but she just couldn't bring herself to hate the two joyful peole in front of her. If anything, she wanted to hug them for being there with the Doctor. He needed companionship. She feared that without it he would go mad.

"What's that noise?" Amy said, cutting into a heated debate between Rory and the Doctor over football.

Rose shook her head, trying to clear it. "What?"

Amy shushed her. "That one…" she tilted her head the side. "It sounds like… barking."

"Yeah, you're right." Rose agreed, after listening for a minute. "And I hear someone yelling, too. Doctor, there aren't any creatures around here that could be dangerous, right?"

He already had an alarmed expression. "There aren't supposed to be, but since when have we just had a nice, relaxing day?"

Rory and Amy scrambled to their feet, gathering the leftovers and dumping them in the basket while the Doctor scanned the area with his sonic. He barking was louder now, and it sounded angry.

"I think your sonic is making it upset…" Amy warned.

Already Rose's Torchwood training was kicking in. She scanned the area and found a branch about three feet long, underneath a tree. Quickly she hefted it up and held it at her side, alert. Hopefully it was enough. For all she knew the creature twenty feet tall with massive fangs.

The four had begun to back away from where the noises were coming from, each brandishing their own version of a weapon. Amy and Rory had the picnic basket, the Doctor had his sonic, and Rose had the branch.

There was rustling in the bushes nearest to Rose, making her freeze. She took a shaky step back, branch held up in a defensive manner. She was contemplating running when the shrubbery burst to life, and a huge brown streaked knocked her off her feet.

"Rose!" she could hear the Doctor yell. She was blinded by massive amounts of brown fur, and… a tongue?

"Ugh, gross." She groaned, shoving the furry nuisance off her as she sat up. Huge, brown eyes started back at her. "Oh, hello, gorgeous."

The "dangerous creature" was, in fact, an Irish Setter that had silky brown hair and the biggest brown eyes she'd ever seen. He reminded her of her old Doctor. His tongue was lolling, and his huge eyes seemed so say, "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Rose, are you alright?" someone asked. She started, looking up to see the Doctor's face hovering inches from her's. "You're not hurt?"

She shook her head. "No. I guess we mistook this cute little guy for a monster. You're not a monster, are you, sweetheart?" the last sentence was directed at the dog, in a baby voice.

Amy joined her, playfully tugging on one of the dog's ears. "Oh, look at you, your ears are huge! And they're so silky too, your fur is better than my hair!"

Suffice to say, Rory and the Doctor weren't as willing to join in.

As Amy and Rose gave the dog all their undivided attention, the Doctor looked up. A familiar figure was headed in their direction; more specifically, she was walking straight towards him.

She grinned cheekily, flashing him a wink. "Hello, sweetie."

"Hello, River." He managed, looking between River and Rose. He hadn't thought that she would find them before he had a chance to tell Rose about River. The idea made him nervous.

She glanced over at the girls. "I see that you've met my friend. He's an expert at tracking alien life forms."

"Ah, I see. Part alien, then?"

"Yes, but you can't tell unless you're an expert on the subject." River countered. The Doctor did notice that the dog had an extra glint of intelligence in his eyes. "Who's your friend?"

"O-Oh." He stammered. "Um…"

By then Rose had noticed River. She gave River one of her brilliant, Tyler smiles, the kind the Doctor remember so well from their travels. It put everyone at ease in an instant. "Hello, I'm Rose."

"I'm River." Said River. "Are you a new companion of the Doctor?"

Rose shook her head. "Nah, I'm from way back, when he had big ears and a thing for leather."

"A what?"

"He wore a lot of leather. You know, it was a few regenerations ago." Rose explained.

Rory looked like he wanted to say something, but Amy shook her head. She was starting to realize that in moments the whole situation was either going to get very awkward or very violent.

The Doctor kept looking between the two women, with some akin to fear written across his face. "Rose, River is—no, will be—no, was—oh, I can't keep it straight. At some point in time we were, or are, married."

"Oh." Rose squeaked. "Okay. I'm, um, I'm glad you found someone." With that she turned abruptly and walked away. The dog let out a little whine and followed.

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

Rose didn't know why she was so angry. It was good that the Doctor had moved on enough to get married. Besides, there could have been a hundred explanations as to why he married her, and maybe none of them had to do with love. He'd told her only a day ago that he loved _her_, and not that he loved anyone else.

Sighing, she sat down and leaned against the side of the TARDIS. She decided that she would give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he loved River too. Rose and her old Doctor had something special; maybe when he'd found her on Woman Wept the shock of seeing her had somehow made him forget River temporarily. Maybe in his new form his feelings for her had faded and made it more bearable to move on with life.

But there was also the way he'd held her while she cried, and stayed with her all night to keep the bad dreams away, She would be insane to deny that he had feelings for her, or that she had feelings for him. She _loved_ him.

"What am I going to do?" Rose asked no one, cradling her head in her hands.

A wet nose was thrust abruptly into her line of vision. She smiled, kissing the dog's head. "Hello again." His huge orbs fixed onto her face with an intensity that reminded her of someone… she just couldn't quite figure out who. "I'm okay. Really, I am. Things get complicated a lot, around me, and I think I might have overreacted a little."

He kept staring at her, head resting in her lap. A little whine of agreement escaped his throat.

"I have a feeling that the Doctor's going to want to keep you. Well, if you're River's dog then you'll have to stay. Still, he tried to take a horse onto the TARDIS once." She laughed. "You need a name. You probably have one already, but I'm going to call you Oliver until I know the real one. Okay?"

Oliver's head shot up, and he barked happily before going to lick her face. Rose giggled. "Okay, okay! I love you too, buddy."

She heard a peal of laughter and looked up. Amy and Rory were both smiling at her, while the Doctor was watching her more carefully. She got up on unsteady feet ad looked at him.

"Doctor," she began, "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, honest. I just…"

He pulled her into a warm embrace, lips brushing the top of her head. "I know. It's not what you think, I don't… I love her like I love Amy and Rory. I had to, I needed to save the world—"

"I know."

"It should have been you."

The whispered confession twisted her stomach into pretzels, and she didn't know what she should say. At last she decided on, "I love you."

"I love you too, Rose. You always shave been and always will be my fantastic, brilliant pink-and-yellow human."

The conversation had gone unheard by everyone else, but they had a pretty good idea of what it'd been about. Amy smiled at the couple, giving Rory a peck on the cheek. River watched them absently-mindedly, patting Oliver's head.

"So," the Doctor said in a much louder voice, "What type of aliens were you looking for?"

River said, "You, actually. I heard a rumor that you were headed here."

"And the dog is just a new thing?"

"No." said River. "Well, yes. I found that animals seem to be as attracted to you as you are to them, and since this kind is part alien he's especially good at finding you."

Rose bent down, wrapping her arms around his neck. "He looks so familiar."

"He should." River told her. "When you get a dog of that specific species—Venatian, in case you were wondering—they're made to find one specific type of alien, and often they resemble that kind of alien."

"He doesn't look Timelord, not really." Rory observed. "He just looks like a really smart dog."

River shook her head at her father. "That's because since there's only one Timelord left, he came to resemble that Timelord."

"My eyes aren't' even that color!" the Doctor protested. "They're green, not brown!"

"Oh." Rose felt like someone had hit her in the stomach. "He looks like you before your eyes were green. He looks like you when your eyes looked like mine."

"Exactly." River seemed pleased that they'd figured it out. "Why do you think he took so well to Rose? As soon as he smelled her he just ran off."

It was strange, seeing her Doctor as a dog. Well, part dog, part alien. "He's not really…. _him_. Right?" Rose asked. That level of weirdness would just be too hard to handle.

"Not even close." River assured her. "Aside from being very fond of you, he's just an ordinary alien-dog hybrid."

Rose planted another kiss on Oliver's head, grinning widely when she saw how jealous her Doctor looked. "Does he have a name?"

"No. Not until you gave him one. Oliver, was it?"

"Yeah."

After that Rose couldn't bring herself to be angry with River. They all headed inside the TARDIS and River explained to the Doctor how they still hadn't gone to the Victorian era yet, which was in her journal. Amy and Rory went to their room once the technical talk started, but Rose curled up below the TARDIS's console with Oliver and a book. She would wait until River went to bed and then maybe she could spend some time alone with her Doctor.

As predicted, soon enough River left. When she, Rose trudged up the stairs and plopped in the seat by the console, yawning. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever gonna leave me again?"

His head whipped around, horrified. "What?!"

"Are you going to leave me at Bad Wolf Bay for a third time?" She didn't want to ask, but the question had been nagging at her mind all day.

He shrugged. "You can't die, and you have nothing left for you there. Why would I do that?"

"Because you always want me to be happy, and safe. Sometimes your definition of that means that I can't be with you." Rose said, fighting back tears.

"Back then it was the only way you could be happy." He paused. "You… you were, weren't you?"

"Yes. I was so very happy."

He looked crestfallen. Rose realized he must have taken her answer to mean that she was happy without him.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

She brushed away a tear. "I missed you."

"I know, you told me that already."

She ignored him. "When I was with John, I thought about you. I always was sad for you, because I had him and you had no one."

He came to stand in front of her, hands resting on her shoulders. Rose sucked in her breath, unsure what she should do.

He told her what she'd told him, a long time ago, when his world had fallen apart. Then he kissed her, smiled at Oliver, and left.

"_I'm never gonna leave you."_

**Review replies:**

**Pig-Rabbit-Suk: the Wolf is definitely going to become more involved. Hmmm… I never thought about Jack, but I think it's be cool if he showed up :) you never know, maybe he will.**

**JollyRoger1: Thank you!**

**Kathryn Hart: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've tried really hard to stay canon, so I'm really grateful to hear you think it is :) and yay, you liked the "I love you" scene! Not sure about updates, though, they might slow when school starts (as if they aren't already).**

**iPodge: Thank you! I'll try my best to do fast updates.**

**Heart of Diamaond: Thank you so much, I'll try to update as quickly as possible.**

**fionafox81: I don't mind at all! I'm glad to hear you like it!**

**Bad Wolf Jen: It's after the end of series 6, as explained in the AN. Thank you!**

**Hunter of Slytherclaw: haha so happy to hear you liked it! Though you might want to try to breathe when you read this chapter, I wouldn't want you passing out, lol.**

**The Doctor Rose: Of course I'll keep going! Thank you so much :) oh, and great name**

**Hailey-Stone: aww, thanks :)**

**ImBusyPlanningGlobalDOminati on: why thank you! hopefully the beginning will somehow reach an end…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow, 106 subscribers…. THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's so overwhelming that so many of you want to read this and know when I update, and it means a lot to me. I'll try my best to make each chapter as good as possible.**

**Also, I was really surprised at how much everyone liked Oliver :) he wasn't even really planned into the fic, and I only wrote him in because for an unknown reason I've been thinking about how adorable Ten would look as a dog. That's pretty much how I though up Oliver. If you want to see a picture of what I think he looks like, go to my profile, there's a link at the top.**

**Review replies at the end.**

The next morning Rose trudged down the long hallways, making her way to the kitchen. It still had the same 1920s theme to it. She smiled, remembering when they'd traveled there and had dinner at a cute little restaurant before being attacked by a horde of Ogrons (how they'd gotten to Earth, Rose had no idea). Still, the Doctor had loved that little diner so much, so he modeled the new TARDIS kitchen after it.

She settled down at the table with a piece of toast, mindlessly picking it apart as she thought. It was odd that no one seemed to be up yet; there wasn't a sound coming from the control room. In her experience the Doctor rarely slept, and he always made sure it was while she was asleep, otherwise she'd make fun of him.

A soft noise in the hallway alerted her to someone's presence. Only a few second later River appeared in the doorway, her abundant and beautiful hair fanned out around her face. There was something about her that Rose admired; it was like River exuded an air of confidence. She was obviously very comfortable in her won skin, something that Rose had struggled with when she was in her teens. Besides, the Doctor liked River, and the two could bicker like an old married couple.

"Hello." Rose said, smiling. "Do you know if anyone else is up yet?"

River shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen the Doctor since last night, if that's who you mean by 'anyone'."

Rose blushed. So it was that obvious. "Well, no… yeah, I guess. He doesn't sleep often, and it's really odd not to see him around."

She bit her lip as the air became heavy with tension. River was rooting through the fridge, and only then did Rose notice Oliver had trotted in behind his mistress obediently. He was staring at Rose, whining softly.

"Oh, Oliver was in your room?" Rose inquired. She patted the edge of her chair, trying to coax him over. "C'mon, boy, come over here. Hey, gorgeous, don't you want to say hi?"

Oliver yipped, dancing on his paws impatiently behind River, as though he was reluctant to go. She emerged from the fridge with an orange and a bowl of cold oatmeal. "Go ahead, Oliver."

He bound over to Rose, happily thrusting his nose into her hands. Rose giggled at the way he wagged his tail with his entire body, wiggling his hips like an over-enthusiastic puppy. "There you are, yeah. Did you miss me?" Rose asked him. He thumped his tail in agreement, so she kissed his head before returning to her breakfast. He steadfastly refused to move an inch, sitting next to her chair and keeping his head in her lap. "He's so friendly!" It was easy to talk about Oliver. Rose hoped maybe it could be an icebreaker.

River nodded sitting across from Rose. "He's one of the most highly-trained dogs in this universe, and somehow you've managed to turn him into a puppy again." she laughed, in a friendly way. "I guess he was right about you, then."

"He?"

"Don't pretend to be surprised." River said. "I've known the Doctor a long time, and I know a lot about him. There are so many mentions, of the Doctor and his pink-and-yellow human."

Rose turned a rather unattractive shade of red. "How do you know that? I don't think he's ever told anyone he called me that?"

"Well, I've also heard you called the yellow girl, or just the girl." River explained. "Aliens have lots of names for you, but almost all of them say that you're kind. You empathize with people—and aliens—your heart is bigger than anyone's. You fixed the war-torn Doctor."

Rose was completely confused. How could River have found any of that out? Sure, she and the Doctor had done a lot of things in hundreds of different galaxies, but that didn't mean she would be remembered. After all, she changed, but the Doctor would always be there to save the day long after she was gone.

"Rose?" River was gently tapping Rose's hand.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Rose said quickly. "I just… it's weird that I've been remembered. I mean, the Doctor's had many companions before me. There's nothing special about me, I'm just one in a long line. I know I promised him forever—" she gulped, but if River was angry at her it didn't show, "—but that doesn't mean anyone would remember me."

River shook her head at Rose, almost in a parental way. "You're one of the most kind people he's ever traveled with, Rose. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. Besides, I've picked up a few things from him over the years. That, and I saw you once."

"You—you what?" Rose spluttered. "But if you've seen me before then I should have recognized you, and I didn't. I still don't."

"It's complicated." said River. "You see, his and my timelines are crossed. Nothing ever happens to us in the right order. In fact, it's almost backwards. When I first met him I knew nothing about him, and he knew everything about me. Now, each time I see him, he knows less about me and I know more about him. Eventually there will come a day when I look at him and he has no idea who I am, but to me he'll be the love of my life."

Rose sucked in her breath, the very pain of that idea piercing her heart. She could only imagine what it would be like. "Oh… I'm sorry."

"He's worth the pain." River concluded easily. "And since you don't know me I can guess that I never met the Doctor when he was with you. A shame, really. He sounds like he was quite the catch in that particular regeneration."

"Oh, yeah." Rose said. Her mind drifted. "But back to you meeting me. Does that mean that… I'm with him in his future?"

River rose, scooping up her now empty bowl. "Spoilers."

When she left Rose found that she was feeling a lot better. Yes, River was in love with her Doctor. Who wouldn't be? But at least she was still with him in the future… but in the woods river had seemed confused, like she didn't know who Rose was. Did that mean she'd only gotten a glimpse of Rose in her past?

It was just too confusing. She sighed, finishing off her toast. As she was washing her plate, Oliver happily dancing about near her legs, Rory and Amy came in. They both looked sleepy and disgruntled.

"Hey, you two." She greeted them. "Up late?"

"Sort of." Amy said.

"And by sort of, she means she was talking to the Doctor half the night, then spent the rest of it telling me about it." Rory explained. He winced when Amy punch his arm. "Ow."

"Is he okay?" Rose asked. She busied herself with making bacon, toast, and pancakes. It was the least she could do, barging in on them and the Doctor. Not that they minded…

Amy just shook her head, sinking down in a chair. Rory settled next to her, draping an arm around her neck. "I don't know." She said at last. "He just was so confused. He loves you, that much is painfully obvious. The problem is he doesn't want to hurt River either, and he can't figure out what he should do. For once, he has a problem he can't solve." Amy sounded like she wanted to be triumphant about that—Rose understood, she always liked to one-up the Doctor when they investigated—but it was so sad that Amy didn't sound like she meant it.

Rose heaped food on two plates, handing it to them. Rory's eyes lit up. "Oh, I definitely like you. I hope he lets you stay."

Amy smacked him again. "Oi! Of course he's going to let her stay."

"Yeah, he said he wouldn't leave me again." Rose said. "So… I'm not going to go."

She left the two Ponds to eat, wandering back to the TARDIS wardrobe. Where were they anyway? And when were they?

"When and where are we, old girl?" Rose asked, pressing her hand against the coral-colored wall. The TARDIS hummed in response, and Rose could've sworn she felt just the tiniest flutter against her mind. She only received an image of her Doctor. "No, silly, why are you showing me him?"

"Showing you who?" she heard behind her.

Whirling, she turned to face the real, living version of the Doctor. "You. That must've been what she meant. I was trying to figure out where and when we were."

"Well, that's simple." He told her, rifling through racks of different suits. "We're in England, early 19th century—1815, if you want to be precise. If not, well… 19th century."

"You said that already."

"Did I?" he held up a bright orange suit, cringed, and put it back. "Nevermind. Anyway, there are plenty of dresses in here, I'm sure you'll find one that doesn't make the people stone you to death."

"What?" Rose asked. He talked so fast, it was hard to keep up.

He gestured impatiently at her. Specifically, her tight-fitting tank top and pajama bottoms. "They wouldn't actually stone you, but there is a good chance you'd be thrown in jail. Remember Scotland and the queen?"

"Right. 'Nakedness'." Rose put air quotes around the second word.

"Yes, exactly!"

Rose turned to a rack suddenly full of period dresses, making her squeal with delight. It'd been so long since she'd gotten properly dressed up for something like this.

"What do you think?"

Rose rotated her head, glancing at the suit he had now. It was brown, pinstriped, and he'd grabbed a brown tie to go with it. Rose felt her heart plummet. "I dunno, it's awfully modern…"

"Right." He put it back.

Rose hid her face under the pretense of still searching. Was he trying to prove that he was still the same? She didn't know, but that outfit brought up so many memories.

She suddenly found herself facing a pretty pink dress. The top was sleeveless, with delicate yellow roses embroidered on the front and swirling all the way down to the waist. The back had laces, ones made of magenta silk. The skirt was also silk, sewn into endless waves in such an intricate pattern that it took Rose's breath away. Bits of wispy, gauze-y cloth was sewn onto the skirt, giving it an ethereal look.

"Thanks." Rose murmured, patting the TARDIS's wall as she took the dress and headed back to her room. "You always know how to make me feel better."

**DW~DW~DW~DW**

Amy twirled her way into the console room, feeling like she was five again. Her dress was a dark blue, with a scandalously thin skirt. Apparently it was more early-1900s than 1800s, but the top seemed close enough. Besides, Amy had found it impossible to walk around in the poofy bell-bottom skirts.

"So, Doctor, you're all dressed up too?" he had on a ridiculous top hat and a black suit.

"Yeah, can't walk in wearing a tweed coat, now can I? This is a party. I love parties!"

"Let me guess, you only go for the dancing?" Amy asked.

"What else is there to go for?"

Amy didn't bother answering. "How come we're going to a fancy party anyway?"

"Because River wanted to go somewhere nice." He said, suddenly very interested in the controls. "And she said she remembered something in her journal mentioning a dress party, so this was bound to happen eventually."

"Oh, you're trying to appease her." Amy concluded, leaning against the railing. "I get it now."

"I am not!" he said, indignant. "I'm just hoping that she enjoys dancing as much as I do, and that maybe she won't be mad at me."

Amy sighed. "I don't think she's mad at you. In fact, I saw her leaving the kitchen just as Rory and I went in there for breakfast, and Rose was still there. Maybe they talked for a while and made some sort of truce."

"Maybe."

Rose, River, and Rory all entered the room at that moment.

"Talking about me, sweetie?" River asked. She had on a light, fawn-colored dress that was heavily inlaid with tiger's eye carved in jewel shapes. They glinted in the light whenever she moved. Amy thought that the pattern almost looked like some sort of jungle cat.

As for Rory, he had a suit similar to the Doctor's, except he didn't have a hat.

"Oh, you look… brilliant." The Doctor said. He was staring at Rose. The his eyes shifted to River and he added, "You too."

The five of them trooped out of the TARDIS, which, oddly enough, hadn't drawn much of a crows despite the fact that it had was in the middle of someone's beautiful garden. Rose noted that it was crushing a flowerbed and covered her giggle.

She had no idea where they were but it was gorgeous. Inside the entire place was lit with candles, making the light so much softer than what electricity did. In the main room at least thirty people spun on the dance floor, each one in a beautiful dress or handsome suit.

"Oh, dancing!" the Doctor exclaimed, pulling River by the arm. He shot an apologetic look to Rose, as if to say, "I owe it to her." Rose nodded, linking her arm with Amy,

"So," she said, amused at the way the Doctor was flailing his arms and stumbling about like a baby giraffe (was that what he called dancing?), "What do you say about getting some champagne?"

"I love the idea." Amy said. "Rory, want to come with us?"

He shook his head. "I think I'll stay here and make sure the Doctor doesn't injure anyone."

The two girls made their way through he crowd, until they found themselves near the kitchen.

Rose asked, why can't we just go to one of the tables with food?"

"Because the stuff they have in here has been on ice, and the stuff out there is in a room full of hot, sweaty people. I prefer my champagne cold, thank you very much." Amy pulled her into the kitchen, glancing about. There were only a few cooks there, and most of them quickly looked away, assuming that they were about to be scolded for something.

"Please, miss, are you looking for someone?" A young girl asked.

Rose smiled at her. "Yeah, you have anything to drink back here?"

"Of course!' she scuttled away, coming back moments later with two glasses. "Are the drinks out there not satisfactory? Oh, miss, I'm so sorry, I—"

Rose shook her head, squeezing the girls' hand lightly. "No, no, they're fine. Don't worry about a thing, it's all lovely."

She seemed reassured, shyly smiling back. "Oh, thank you, miss."

Amy and Rose went back into a smaller room, which was now surprisingly empty. An old man was sleeping on one of the extravagant couches, but otherwise it was quiet.

"Where do you reckon they've gone?" asked Amy, sipping her drink.

Rose had no time to answer, because something smashed into her head, and her vision quickly turned to black. As her eyelids fluttered shut she could hear Amy's faint squeak of surprise, and someone speaking.

"_Silence, Wolf, silence will fall."_

**A/N: Not spellchecked.**

**Review replies:**

**KJMirrorSmoke: Awww, glad you like him! Yeah, there might be some River/Rose drama, but overall I see them as being friends.**

**Hailey-Stone: hehe thank you :) puppies are nice**

**Pig-Rabbit-Suk: yeah Oliver is a cutie :) I know, plus imagine all the innuendos he'd think up! It's always nice to have Jack around.**

**Kathryn Hart: Yeah, I figured that a little John/Rose fluffiness wouldn't hurt. I always imagined them as being the most cutesy couple in the wolrd, to the point where no one can stand to be around them. Haha apparently Oliver is very loved by a lot of readers. Yeah, I imagined that Ten as a dog would be the most adorable thing ever. Hmmm… you might be right, but I don't think there will be too much River/Rose drama.**

**Also, thanks for all the stuff about Jimmy. I wish that Rose had elaborated a little on why they broke up. Ah well.**

**JollyRoger1: I'm glad too :) thank you!**

**texas-sky87: of course I'll listen to you, don't feel bad! You're right, there will be less crying. That was only because it's still her second day back with the Doctor, and I figured all of it—especially meeting River—might be too much for her at times. Don't, worry, she'll bounce back. She always does.**

**Orohippus: thank you so much!**

**Heart of Diamond: awww, thank you :)**

**LadaHathaway: thanks, I will!**

**dicopebisuteria: thank you, and I'm glad you liked the Rose/John stuff**

**The Doctor Rose: Isn't there always drama when the Doctor is involved? ;)**

**whovianforlife88: thanks :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So right now this fanfic is turning into my obsession. That's good for you guys, I guess, since I might as well get as much as possible done before school starts (next Tuesday). I had the same problem when I was writing Colorblind, I was constantly too busy and sometimes I could only update during holidays.**

**Also, I've been listening to Hunger Games-related music recently and rekindling my obsession for that. Anyone fancy a crossover? I have some ideas but they're not fully-formed yet.**

**Review replies at the end. Not spellchecked, as usual. Sorry for any mistakes.**

Rose felt cold, beneath her palms. She was lying on her back, dank, putrid air wafting past her nose with an icy chill at her back and an odd warmth in her left side.

Her eyes were reluctant to open, but she forced them to anyways. Right away she knew it was a mistake. Her head throbbed mercilessly, probably due to being hit. Years of Torchwood training kicked in. She definitely had a concussion, and the warmth at her side could be blood.

Not that it mattered much. She gritted her teeth, patiently waiting for the inevitable. Seconds later her eyes blurred over with a dull gold glow. From experience—and the perplexed reports of her fellow alien-hunters—she knew that when she was severely injured her entire body would be shrouded in gold tendrils, but when it was minor her eyes would glow gold for a few seconds and she would be fine. Sure enough, the headache vanished. However, the warmth did not.

Rose sat up and saw Amy's head was resting against her side._ Oh._ The redhead looked peaceful, but there were telltale signs of head trauma. Rose was careful when she shifted Amy's head to the ground.

They appeared to be in some sort of cellar. One of the walls was lines with crates, a few marked in French. The TARDIS translator, clearly shaken by the blow to her head, quickly came back to life. Most of them were labeled "wine" and there were a few that had various food items.

She scooted closer to Amy, trying to form some sort of protective barrier between Amy and the nearest door. She didn't even have to get up to know it was locked, and she had a feeling anything coming through there was bad news. Eyeing it warily, she pulled Amy closer, cradling Amy's head in her lap.

She heard a faint moan. "Amy?" Rose asked hesitantly. "Amy, can you hear me?"

"I'm never drinking again." was Amy's reply. Her eyes opened. "What happened?"

"I dunno, something hit me from behind." said Rose.

Amy tried to move, winced, and cried out. "Yeah, I think that's what happened to me." Each breathe was labored. "How come you look perfectly fine?"

"Bad Wolf." Rose reminded her. "Does anything besides you head hurt?"

Amy groaned. "I don't know, my head hurts too much for me to tell."

Rose's mind was going into hyper drive. "Okay. First things first, we have to get out of here. The door's locked, but it's old enough that I bet I could get it open anyway." Amy looked puzzled. "Let's just say that I have my own version of a sonic screwdriver."

"Sonic probe?" Amy guessed faintly.

"How'd you know?!"

"I had something similar a while ago."

Rose nodded. "Right. Anyway, I could loosen the bolts on the door. You think you can walk anywhere?"

Amy gestured with her hands, head unmovable. "I could try, but I don't know if I'll get very far."

That was enough for Rose. She carefully slid Amy's head back to the ground, then went to work on the door. It was good that the bolts were metal, because her sonic probe was rubbish with wood (why was that?) but it didn't take long to loosen the nails. She carefully pulled the door off its hinges, laying it down quietly so as not to draw attention to herself.

"Alright, here we go."

It took nearly five minutes to haul Amy to her feet, and by time she was standing both of them were filthy and exhausted. As they began to walk slowly out Rose noticed Amy biting down on her lip, fighting back the whimpers and moans. Still, she kept moving. Of course she was a fighter; the Doctor would never travel with anyone who wasn't brave.

They were about halfway up a flight of stone stairs when Amy couldn't go another step. "Go… ahead…" she urged. "Keep going."

"I'm not leaving you here." Rose said defiantly. "Sorry, that's not how I work."

She was about to say more when Amy shook her head and held a finger to her lips, eyes squinting in a perplexed fashion. Rose quieted, and she realized what Amy had heard. Above them on the staircase footsteps rang out, slapping against the stone. Amy's eyes widened. "Go!" she hissed.

Rose shook her head. They hadn't gotten very far up the spiraling staircase, and both of them would be hidden from sight until whoever it was reached a few feet away from them. Holding her breath, Rose pressed against the stone wall.

The footsteps quickened, becoming louder and louder until a man made a small noise of surprise, having seen Amy. Rose didn't give him a chance to do anything; she flung herself blindly at him, fist connecting with a face.

"Hey, what the hell—" she heard them man splutter. She frantically grabbed the lapels of his coat, slamming him into the wall. It knocked the breath out of him, so he would be able to shout for help. That was when Rose noticed something…

"Jack?"

"Rose!" he exclaimed cheerfully, as though she hadn't just attacked him. He gathered her in a tight hug, pulling back so he could look at her. "I thought that you were stuck, in that parallel world, with the meta-crisis."

"How'd you know that?" Rose asked. "You left before the Doctor dropped us off at Bad Wolf bay."

He shrugged, a serious expression gracing his features for a split second. "All I knew was that there was a human version of the Doctor, and the real Doctor loves you. It wasn't hard to guess what he'd do."

Rose nodded. Her mind snapped back to the present when she heard Amy ask, "Who's that?"

"Amy, this is Jack Harkness." Rose introduced him hastily, crouching down next to Amy. "Jack, meet Amelia Pond."

He knelt next to Rose, smiling and offering his hand. "Why hello there, Amelia Pond."

"Hello." Amy said, blushing.

"Stop it." Rose commanded teasingly, knowing her Doctor would have said that if he was here. "We need to get back to the Doctor, Amy's hurt."

Jack stopped flirting at once. He scooped Amy up like she was a ragdoll. "Lead the way."

As they crept of the staircase Rose wondered what he'd been doing there in the first place. Of course, she wasn't sure _what _he was up to these days. She guessed he was still with Torchwood, mostly because he knew he helped keep it from becoming like the pre-Canary Wharf one.

Soon enough they were out of the cellar—about time too, the place reeked—and trying to be discreet as they dodged curious guests. The Doctor wasn't in the ballroom anymore, and neither was River.

"Where has he gone?" Rose asked, not really meaning to say it aloud.

Jack tried to shrug, but with Amy in his arms he found it difficult. "No idea. He likes to dance, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yeah." Rose grinned. She remembered the way he'd been waving his arms in the air like a puppet hanging awkwardly on its strings. _Baby giraffe_. It was what this regeneration looked like to her. Just like her first Doctor had been an icy-eyed, war-torn man, and her second had been a lovable as… well, Oliver.

She caught sight of him in the next room and rushed over. "Doctor! Doctor!"

"What?" when he noticed the blood on her dress, his eyes got that _look_ in them—the look of the Oncoming Storm. "What happened, Rose/ Are you hurt?"

"The Wolf took care of that." Rose assured him. She gestured to Jack, who had come to stand beside her. 'I'm not sure about Amy, though."

Rory and the Doctor were on it in mere seconds. "Amy, sweetheart, what hurts?" Rory was asking.

Amy glared at him, batting a concerned hand away. "It's just my head, Rory, I'm fine."

"Amy…" said the Doctor softly. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, scanning her head. "We can fix you up in the TARDIS, won't take more than a few minutes."

The next ten minutes was a bit of a blur, but the Doctor was right. Amy had only had a concussion and in the med bay Rory and the Doctor fixed it within a few minutes. Then they all trooped to their rooms to change out of the dresses and suits that were starting to hinder their ability to walk.

As she stripped out of the gorgeous dress, Rose sighed at the dirt and stains in it. "Sorry, old girl." She murmured to the TARDIS. "We got into a little trouble."

The TARDIS hummed softly, the vibrations tickling her feet. "Yeah… are the others doing okay? Is Amy okay?"

Another soft hum, which after so long on the TARDIS, Rose knew was a yes. She smiled contentedly. She was starting grow very fond of Amy and Rory, and she hated seeing anyone hurt. She'd been so alone in the parallel world that she'd forgotten the Doctor could fix nearly anything in his med bay. She could remember when she'd broken her arm on some planet chasing aliens, and he'd given her something that had healed it in five minutes. Those had been good times, broken limbs aside.

She pulled a soft pink shirt over her head and stepped into a pair of sweats. She had a feeling that they wouldn't be heading back to he party anytime soon, so it didn't matter that her outfit would cause a riot if she stepped outside.

In the massive library Rose found Jack flipping through A Mango-Shaped Space, the latest book she'd been reading. It was about a girl that had synthesia, a disease that let her see colors when she heard sounds or read words. Rose knew how it felt to have something so wonderful and hurtful at the same time.

"Hey there." She said. His eyes lit up at the sight of her, and he patted the space on the couch next to him. She plopped down next to him. "You like it?"

"Like what?"

"The book, you git." She teased. "Do you like the book?"

"I wasn't really reading it." He admitted.

She laughed. "I've really missed you. You know that? Whole time I was in the parallel world, with people dyin' around me while I couldn't die, I kept thinking about how you would understand. If you'd been there then maybe I wouldn't have been so alone."

It was then that Rose realized he probably had no idea what she was talking about, since he hadn't been there for the Bad Wolf explanation. His eyes were already wide with horror.

"Rose, what are you talking about?"

She gulped. "I guess I forgot that you just got here five minuets ago."

"Rose…"

"Fine, fine. I can't die. You remember on the Game Station, when you had died?"

"Yeah." His lips pressed tightly together at the memory, and he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

She continued. "Well, I'd been sent home and I managed to get into the heart of the TARDIS and look into it. It got into my head, made me the Bad Wolf. I guess I took out all the Daleks…. I can't really remember, and when I try my head hurts. Anyway, the Doctor says that a little bit stayed in my head, and whenever I was fatally injured in the parallel world she would just heal me." It was hard to explain it again. It was hard to think about home, and her mum, Pete, and Tony. "My family grew old and died. John—meta-crisis—died as well."

Jack didn't say anything, just hugged her. It was wonderful, getting to see him after so long, but it made Rose long for her Doctor to be the one holding her in his arms.

Eventually he pulled back and kissed the top of her head. "I'm so sorry, Rose. I wish I'd known, I would have found a way to get to you."

"'S okay now." Rose told him. "I've got the Doctor, haven't I? And I got you back."

He nodded. "I reckon you have. And, might I say, you're looking as fine as ever, Miss Tyler."

She giggled, punching his arm. "That's the Jack I knew."

"What can I say? I like pretty girls."

"You know, every time our song came on I thought of you." Rose told him. "Dancing on an invisible spaceship in the middle of the Blitz, me with a Union Jack on my chest. Those were the days…"

"Doctor's changed since I last saw him." Jack commented.

"Yeah." Rose agreed, spirits sinking. "Burt I think he's still the same."

The aforementioned Timelord walked in as Rose was about to ask Jack what he thought. The Doctor was next to River, who had also changed. He sat on the other side of Rose, and River settled herself in a seat nearby.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked, getting right down to business.

"We were just getting some drinks," Rose began, gesturing at Amy, who had just walked in with Rory at her side, "when all of a sudden something hit me from behind. I… I heard it say something."

"What?"

She pursed her lips. "I dunno… I can't really remember. I just think it said something…."

"Silence, Wolf, silence will fall." Amy chanted. Heads collectively swiveled in her direction. "What? That's what it said. You think I'd for get the sound of the Silences' voices?"

"Silence?" Rose questioned. Rory, Amy, River, and the Doctor all looked like they recognized the name, and what the Silence had said.

"The Silence…" the Doctor said. He reached unconsciously for Rose's hand a gripped it tightly. "They're aliens, ones that occupied Earth for thousands of years."

"That's impossible!" Rose said, despite the fact that she knew she'd probably be proven wrong in a moment. "I think I would have noticed that."

"The moment you look away from them, you forget them." River's tone was ominous. "And they can influence your mind. They can make you do things…"

Rose wondered why River was staring at the Doctor with such intensity, and why he was avoiding her eyes. "Like what?" Rose pressed.

"They can make you kill the one you love. That's what they did, actually." River said. "They stole me from Amy and Rory so they could raise me to kill the Doctor."

"They… sorry, you're Amy and Rory's daughter?" It was only a guess, but Rose found she was right by the silent nods. "Oh. Okay."

Then she spent the next hour listening to the most fantastical story she'd ever heard, one that was making her head spin until she thought she might be sick. River had been raised to be a psychopath, to kill the Doctor. When she first took the form she had currently, she'd almost succeeded. Then, as she had grown to love the Doctor (because with him as the only important man in her life, who else would she fall in love with?) she'd been forced to kill him. But she hadn't. Rose just hadn't known if she'd failed or not. Apparently she had managed to shoot it, but he'd been in a Teselecta ship that looked like him.

"So," she concluded, once they'd stopped speaking, "You're their daughter, you tried to kill the Doctor but ended up marrying him, and now the beings responsible for all that are after me?"

Rory shrugged. "Yup, pretty much. It's what happens when you try to have a good time exploring the universe."

"Now that we've gotten caught up, who are you two?" Jack sent his best smile at Rory and River. Rory seemed a bit stunned, while River just ignored it. Rose had a feeling she could take on Jack in a fight and win.

"Stop it." warned the Doctor.

"Why do the Silence want me?" Rose asked suddenly. "Shouldn't most of them be dead?"

"Yes, most of them." The Doctor frowned. His grip on her hand was getting to be painful. "This… it's revenge. It has to be, what else would they want? They don't know anything about you."

Rose just shrugged it off. She'd been in far worse situations. "What bothers me is how easy it was to escape. There wasn't anyone guarding us."

Amy raised her hand, almost nervously. "Ummm, actually…" She tugged on the chain around her neck, pulling out a small black pen. "I keep this around, just in case. When you were standing, waiting for Jack to come find us before you knew it was Jack…" she held up her arm, pulling back her sleeve. There were three black marks on her arm.

"What's… oh." Rose figured that it was the only way they had to remember the Silence. "But that was just three, and if they were there then why didn't they stop us?"

The Doctor's face was drawn, any cheeriness vanished. "They wanted me to know that they can take you away, as easily as they would with army-sized forces. They want to _taunt_ me."

But you never taunted the Oncoming Storm. No one did. Rose was baffled. "You defeated them, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't they know better?"

He laughed. "Just because they should doesn't mean they will."

It was decided that they would try visiting another planet for a while, in the hopes that the Silence ignored them. As far as they knew, Silence only inhabited their own planet and Earth. It was strange for Rose, seeing the Doctor back down from a fight, but he pointed out that a few angry Silence wasn't any big deal.

Still, as Rose changed into her pajamas and pulled the sheet over her knees, she kept feeling like something was wrong. She would blink, rubbing her eyes, and look into the empty room. There was no one with her, just Oliver.

He whined softly in the back of his throat, watching the same spot she kept looking at with intensity. She yawned, patting his head. "It's okay, boy, there's nothing there. I'm just tired, seeing things…"

As she drifted off, Oliver straightened, staring intensely at the doorway. His lips were parted in a soft growl, warding off the dark figure in the doorway. Rose might not see it, but he did. And as long as she couldn't, he wasn't going to let it get near her.

**A/N: That can't be good, now can it? Sorry if this was boring, I needed to do a lot of introductory stuff with Jack and explaining stuff with everyone. Expect more action in the next chapter, though it might take a while to get posted because I have school on Tuesday.**

**Review replies:**

**Pig-Rabbit-Suk: Yeah, I love Torchwood! Jack and Ianto are just amazing :) I kinda wish he'd go back to Doctor Who, though, I'd love to see him meet Amy, Rory, and River!**

**JollyRoger1: haha thanks I guess :)**

**saturngirl123: honestly I didn't really intend for there to be parallels, but I guess you're right :) and that line was more of a comment about how Oliver likes Rose so much because the Tenth Doctor did. It's supposed to be River acknowledging that the Doctor holds Rose in a very special place in his heart.**

**The Doctor Rose: why thank you :)**

**melynita: Thank you! Yeah, I don't think River and Rose would be friends, or at least not right away. I think there would definitely be a grudging respect, but not much else.**

**LadaHathaway: well, luckily for you, this is going to end with the Doctor and Rose being together :)**

**LilienRose: Really? Well, yay, I guess. But of course, doesn't everyone forget the Silence in the end? ;)**

**The Alternative Source: What can I say/ I love cliffies :P I'm glad you think so, I find that usually my writing is really clunky and awkward (to read, that is). **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I haven't updated in forever. My life has become a spiraling pit of homework and tests and roleplaying(there's a link to the forum on my page if you're interested, it's DW roleplaying and we have lots of canon characters still open. Also, check out the fic one of the roleplayers made based off it, The Angels of Carlon by CharmedMilliE), so I haven't gotten a chance to write anything other than little drabbles (namely Tactile and Stardust. I great appreciate of you'd read them). But yeah, here's my attempt at a long apology chapter. Review replies at the end, as usual.**

_She's not sure when it all started. They held hands, ran together, defended the universe side by side. Even safely in the TARDIS they never strayed far from each other. Rose had noticed that ever since he regenerated, her room had slowly shifted closer and closer to his, until it was merely across the hall. The Doctor blamed it on the TARDIS, saying it was just her way of acting up._

_But he began to leave things in her room. A crumpled treasure map from Glamforix 3 that he insisted was real, a rubiks cube he'd brought to show her—he'd said he could finish one in a minute, and he had been right—, and so many other little things. His leather jacket was in here. Sometimes, when she was feeling sad and reminiscent, she would wrap it round her shoulders and curl up on her bed._

_There was also that little flutter in her mind, when they touched skin-on-skin. It was usually when they held hands. It was as if her mind became more aware, her emotions heightened. The Doctor never told her what it was; she sometimes believed it was her imagination. But Timelords had telepathic abilities, didn't they?_

_The night after Krop Tor, he was reluctant to let her out of his sight. The Doctor followed her to her room, sat on her bed while she changed, gave her one of his wild grins when she shuffled out in pajamas._

_"Rough day, yeah?" Rose said, lying down immediately. He observed her from his perch on the corner of her bed. "Sorry. I wasn't sure what I should say."_

_"I understand." He slid up so his head rested against the headboard, eyes still glued to her as she lay down. "And Rose?"_

_"Yeah?" She was glad he was still talking; she didn't want to fall asleep just yet._

_"Well…" he glanced to the ceiling, awkwardly. "I'm sorry that I left you."_

_"Wasn't your fault. Besides, you found the TARDIS, and it all worked out, didn't it?"_

_He shook his head. "Rose, I left you all alone up there, where the Ood and the Beast could get you."_

_"I managed on my own, thank you very much." She said, trying to lighten the mood._

_He shifted his body closer to hers, almost subconsciously, and she turned on her side to face him. Fingers wove together across the covers. "Do you feel it?"_

_"What?" the little tingle started in the very tips of her fingers, shooting all over her body and warming her. "The.. the flutter?"_

_"In your mind, yeah."_

_'How'd you know about that?" Like he had said, there was just the faintest movement, and she could have sworn her vision sharpened. She gasped at a sudden assault of sorrow, so fresh and painful that she felt like there was a hole torn through her chest._

_At once the Doctor withdrew, dropping her hand. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen."_

_"What was it?" Rose felt tears, wet and heavy in her eyes, and she felt like they were hers. "Was that you?"_

_"Timelords can communicate through telepathy." He explained. "When we're around others of our kind, but it's very shallow, in the sense that we can only short sentences, words, and basic imagines. Like, um, like a chat-room online. You have those, yeah?" When she nodded, he continued, "When we meet someone who's special, someone we care about…" he let her figure out the rest._

_Rose turned a deep red. "That's what I feel, every time you touch me?"_

_"Yeah." He almost sounded like an embarrassed schoolboy. "Most humans don't have the capacity for a connection like that, they wouldn't have noticed. You did."_

_She was taken aback by the pure pride in his voice. "I can't hear you say anything."_

_"You feel what I feel." He said. "And you could hear me speak, if you wanted."_

_She bobbed her head up and down frantically. How nice it would have been if he could have done that before, when she thought he was dead._

_His hands crept up to her temple, placing themselves gently on both sides of her head. She mimicked his actions, wondering what exactly she was supposed to do._

_The feeling wasn't sudden, as she could expect. Instead it crawled towards her, pulling her under like waves and drifting her out to sea. Her vision went spotty, and then it filled up with images of planets she'd never seen, all revolving around one particular reddish orange one. She knew it was Gallifrey. So many images of it flashed by—beautiful, young, the city shimmering in a glass bubble; older, covered in snow; seasons passing, the Doctor growing up; and the Time War, as he watched his planet burn and everyone screamed. Rose heard their screams echoed in her head, so many. And there were hundreds of people he'd traveled with, or watched die, or tried to save but been too late. Death, nothing but death, so much of it that Rose couldn't do anything but listen to them die over and over and over and she couldn't turn away because IT WAS HER FAULT, OH GOD, SHE KILLE DTHEM—_

_She snapped back to reality, panting. Silent tears had fallen down her face, and across from her the Doctor stared at her in consternation. "Rose…"_

_That was what he felt, all day, all the time? Rose couldn't believe it. How could someone listen to that all the time? How did he not have nightmares?_

_She realized he was still fixated on her. "Rose, are you all right? Did I hurt you?"_

_"My Doctor." She breathed. "My poor Doctor."_

_"Rose, it's fine. I didn't mean to show you so much."_

_She shook her head mutely, placing her hands back on his head. The mental nudge in her mind was already there, fresh from the last contact, and all she had to do was push. This time, she was aware of what he thought, but of her own mind as well. Mustering every bit of strength she possessed, Rose sent warmth, love, empathy, all in his direction. _I love you._ Images of death, and every horrible thing he'd ever done. _I still love you. _No matter how much he'd done or who he'd killed, she loved him irrevocably. She kept telling him, kept sending him images of love and content and peace._

_When she finally let go he was the ones crying, curled in on himself with one hand on her arm. "I don't deserve you."_

_"Yeah, you do." She said simply, because he deserved far more than she could ever give him. Her arms encircled him, drawing him close. "It's going to be okay."_

_They stayed there all night, and after that he never slept away from her. They gave each other their souls and minds, forever connected._

_When Rose left him forever on Bad Wolf Bay, the Doctor lost a part of his soul._

"Rose?"

She looked up from her bed, smiling at the mop of unruly brown hair. "Yeah?" it'd been hard to sleep, constantly drifting in and out, haunted by old memories. Oliver, who had been oddly restless, was resting.

"I just…" he gestured helplessly at her room. "I wasn't sure where to go. After you left, I mostly stayed here at night."

"Little girly, don't you think?"

He laughed. "Yeah, that was what Martha thought."

"Bet she did." Rose shifted to the side, patting the empty space next to her. "Hey, come sit down. Oliver won't bite, promise."

He did so, casually swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and trying to make it seem like he hadn't really meant to. "You were dreaming about Krop Tor."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

He tapped her head. "I've been in contact with you a lot since you came back, the mental link is renewing itself."

Rose sighed. "I can't feel it. Well, maybe a little. You're just so different…"

"You'll adjust." He assured her. "And I know what you mean. When you left, I could feel you, but I couldn't really know what you should or hear you. And then…"

"… It faded away?"

"It did." He said, pain underneath the cautiously guarded exterior. "Just a huge space, completely empty."

"John helped me with it." Rose admitted. "We couldn't establish any physic link, but he tried his hardest to find any alien technology that would allow it. I think it didn't bother him as much, since he was half-Timelord and he'd never really had the link. He remembered it vividly, but he didn't have a gaping space where it didn't exist."

"No, he wouldn't." the Doctor's fingertips were tracing designs on the palm of Rose's hand. It was soothing. "I'm sorry."

Flashes of cool sadness, and white-hot pain seared her mind momentarily. Rose suppressed the urge to cry out. "Y-Yeah, it's fine." He had been right about the link reawakening, because that was where the pain had to have come from.

"Do you want me to get rid of it?" he asked, a bit flustered. 'you know, on the off chance that you get lost, or just get tired of me, or—"

"I would never get tired of you." She assured him, sending an overwhelming flood of love, mentally. She saw a look of peace pass over his face momentarily. "I promise. But I have to ask… does River have this with you too? I'm not being a jealous girlfriend or anything, I just want to know."

"No." he said at once. "I never felt it with her."

Rose felt relief, though she had been trying to tell herself she wasn't jealous. "Oh."

"And you don't want to get rid of it?" He asked again, wishing more than anything that she would want to keep the link intact.

"No, never." She said. "Even when it was empty, at least it was there. It kept me thinking about you, like I had you, but I didn't." She backtracked. "I don't know if that even makes sense. It was something to remind me of you, even if I couldn't feel you. The hurt, the tears, it kept me grounded. And it helped me search for you."

"I'm sorry." He whispered anyway. "That it hurt."

She snuggled closer. "I don't mind. I have you now."

Arms and legs entwined, bodies pressed closer. Rose let out a little noise of content, and warm air blew past her ear as the Doctor sighed. "I'm glad you came here. Wasn't the same, all those nights sleeping alone."

"Oliver's here."

"He's awfully twitchy, though." Rose commented, nearly half-asleep.

"Mmm… could be the noises of the TARDIS upsetting him." And the Doctor launched into a complicated explanation as to how dogs could hear higher-pitched noises, and how alien ones had an ever more _specific_ range, the techno-babble lulling Rose to sleep.

**A/N: Umm… there. Hope that nonsensical fluff tides you over until I get an actual plot going.**

**Review replies:**

**JollyRoger1: Jack is fun to have around :) I love writing for him**

**LadaHathaway: Who doesn't love Jack? And thank you :)**

**The Alternative Source: Aww, thank you! Yup, Oliver sees something. And you're in luck, there's lots of Doctor/Rose ahead.**

**Pig-Rabbit-Suk: Miracle Day was the worst. JACK MIGHT COME BACK?! I hope that happens, it would be perfect. I can't tell you what is was, but you'll find out soon enough… I think. Depends on what I work out for this in my head. There isn't much of a plot.**

**Guest: Thank you, and I'm doing my best :) stupid school is always getting in the way**

**mel: Yup, got to love the Silence. I will :)**

**Diving In: Well, keep reading, and you will find out ;)**

** m0ckingbird77: Hehe Oliver is a cutie, isn't he? ME TOO!**

**SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUnivers e: I'm so glad you like it, this is just a compiling of the random ideas I got one day.**

**summersrain: Well, River's too important to just get rid of. I figured she could be useful, and wouldn't be too jealous of Rose. I'm so happy that you've liked what I've written so far :)**

**Mortal Days: Thank you!**

**Alice Rose Winter: Thanks :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So this isn't a chapter (and I'm very, very sorry), but I figured I should upload this so everyone subscribed to this fic would see it. **

**First of all, I'm so sorry for the delay on updating this! I was blocked for almost two months, and just managed to get over it. Still, I've been finding that when I try to write anything for this fic, I have no ideas. That's probably because I didn't have much of a plot to start with. Unfortunately, that means that this is on hiatus for a while, while I straighten out my busy life and try to come up with some new ideas.**

**If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please leave a review or PM me. I'll be forever grateful! **

**One last thing: I'm currently planning another Doctor Who fic, except this one will have a beginning middle, and end before I start writing it, so updates should be a lot more regular. The working title I have now is "Under Ice", so be sure to look out for that.**

**Thank you!**

**~flower gettin' lady**


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